Imia 1996. Message before the crash of the helicopter: "Good luck, and God be with you"

In the morning January 31, 1996V 2:04 nights, from General Staff of the Navy (Γεν) a message was transmitted to all units Navy From Rear Admiral Joannis Stagi.

“I am absolutely sure that if you need it, you will all show yourself a worthy glorious history of the Navy. Good luck to you, and let God be with you! ”

It was the peak of the crisis on Imii. Three days before the tragedy, January 28, 1996the patrol ship of the Greece Navy, lowered the Turkish flag, which was raised by the journalists of the newspaper “Hurit” (shooting this in the video) and raised the Greek flag.

That same evening Greek Sea Commandos landed on Big Imii Unnoticed by Turkish ships that were in this area. The Greek “command” was given a team to avoid escalation of tension.

The next day, Prime Minister of Greece Kostas Simitis In his software statements in parliament, he said that Greece would respond to any Turkish provocations quickly and decisively. He reported the same to the US President Bill Clinton.

Turkish Prime Minister Tansuu Chiller I requested negotiations on the status of islands. Greece announced her readiness to withdraw the garrison, but was not going to remove the Greek flag, and at that time warships hurried to Imii “Navarin” And “Femistocles”. The Turkish Foreign Minister said that there are other Islands of the Aegean Sea with uncertain legal status and did not accept the Greek proposal.

In the morning January 31, 1996 V 04:30 The helicopter of the Greek Navy rose from the frigate “Navarin” In bad weather conditions with the task, check the information that Turkish commands landed on Malaya Imia. IN 04:50 The crew said that he discovered about 10 Turkish commands with their flag. The Navy helicopter received an order to return to the base, but between the islands Pete And Kalolimnos He reported a malfunction and disappeared from the radar.

Three crew members – Second Lieutenant Christodulos Karatanasis, Second Lieutenant Panayotis Vlahacos And Senior sailor Enter Yalopsos – died as a result of the fall of a helicopter.

Source link